A big game for Sailors

Newport Harbor High’s football team has become accustomed to facing big quarterbacks who are difficult to rattle and even more difficult to take down.

These athletes are not just run-of-the-mill signal callers.

They’re kids being courted by Division I college football programs, and as a rule, they almost always present dual threats.

Clark Evans (6-4, 210) of Los Alamitos was one, and the Sailors got the best of him with a 31-27 win over the Griffins Oct. 29.

Now the Sailors face Edison’s Nick Crissman, another big quarterback, tonight at 7 in a game that’s for the share of the Sunset League title. The 6-4, 198-pound senior was a problem for quite a few teams last year as he led the Chargers to the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division title game last season, where Edison lost, 30-20, to Orange Lutheran.

Crissman, who has already verbally committed to UCLA, is not much of a runner — he’s had 45 carries for 39 yards — but he is a threat best contained by keeping him on the sideline.

“He’s a good athlete and throws the ball real well,” Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley said. “They spread us out and gave us matchups that gave us problems. If you don’t account for the run, they’ll hurt you. Hopefully, we’ve got a scheme in place that will slow them down.

“If we can make some first downs, it certainly helps us defensively because we can keep their offense on the sidelines, so we’ll see what happens.”

In contrast, Sailors quarterback Andrew McDonald is just over six feet tall, and he’s 160 pounds.

But Brinkley said he realized McDonald’s durability after the 34-7 loss to Long Beach Poly, where McDonald was sacked eight times, but still threw for 143 yards.

McDonald has a 63% completion rating on the season, Brinkley said.

Newport Harbor (7-2), Edison (6-3), Compton (8-1), and Tesoro (6-3) are all tied for the 10th spot in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division poll for Week 9. The Tars are tied for first place in the Sunset League with Edison and Esperanza, all 3-1.

“The program’s been around for 70 years, and there’s only been 11 champions,” Brinkley said. “This group has a chance to make a special mark on the program. To come back in the Sunset League and be the first [Newport Harbor] team to get a piece of the championship would be a big deal, so I think the kids are going to play hard.”

While Newport Harbor has already secured a playoff spot regardless of the outcome of tonight’s final home game at Davidson field, the Chargers are on the bubble. A win would give them at least a share of the league title, while a loss could push them to fourth place, if Los Alamitos defeats Marina, which has yet to win a league game.

If Edison lost and Los Al won, both teams would be 3-2, and the Griffins would be the third-place team because it beat the Chargers, 13-9, Oct. 12.

Brinkley knows a team that’s staring at its postseason mortality, especially when an at-large playoff berth is not an absolute possibility, will not be an easy one to be beat, especially when playing Edison wasn’t going to be a bed of roses to begin with.

“It’s going to take one of our best efforts of the year to compete with them,” he said.

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at [email protected].